1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to helium-inflated toy balloons, and more particularly to a play set which makes use of such balloons for ceiling play, one of the balloons being tethered and being manipulated by a player to capture the other balloons which are free-floating and rise to the ceiling.
2. Status of Prior Art
Toy balloons are known in which the skin of the balloon is composed of non-stretchable MYLAR (polyester) film whose surface is metallized and otherwise embellished. The balloon is formed from two contoured sheets of Mylar film which when peripherally bonded together create an internal cavity and a neck leading to the cavity. By inflating this balloon with helium through the neck, and then knotting or otherwise sealing the neck, the resultant balloon is lighter than air and therefore free floating.
The usual practice when a MYLAR balloon is sold to a child, say, in an amusement park, is for the vendor to fill the purchased balloon through its neck from a large cylinder containing pressurized helium, after which he knots the neck to seal the balloon, and then ties a string to the neck which he hands over to the child. The tethered balloon then floats upwardly to a height depending on the length of the string.
Such lighter-than-air toy balloons have limited play value; for while a child enjoys holding the balloon by its string as he walks through an amusement park or along a street, should the child accidentally release the string, the balloon then rises and is blown away so that it cannot be recovered. More expensive versions of a Mylar balloon are in the shape of popular characters such as Mickey Mouse, and the loss of a balloon of this type is not taken lightly by the child. If, however, this lighter-than-air balloon is released within the confines of the child's playroom, it will float to the ceiling, and in that case it can be recovered by stepping on a chair or stepladder.
The effective life, in its inflated state, of a conventional balloon having a thin rubber skin is short. When this balloon is mouth inflated by air, it is blown up by internal pressure well above atmospheric in order to stretch the skin and expand the balloon to a large size. Not only are such air-filled balloons incapable of floating in air, but because of their high internal pressure, air gradually leaks out of the knotted neck to deflate the balloon.
But a helium-filled, lighter-than-air MYLAR balloon has a low internal pressure, for with this non-stretchable balloon, the internal pressure need only be sufficient to cause the balloon to assume its predetermined shape. And the great advantage of a MYLAR balloon is that it may be pre-shaped to assume an endless range of fanciful configurations, and its non-stretchable skin may be metallized, printed in multi colors and otherwise embellished in imaginative ways.
But regardless of the attractive form taken by a Mylar lighter-than-air balloon, there is not much a child can do other than to admire it and walk with the balloon floating in air above him. Indeed, the play possibilities of a MYLAR balloon are so limited that some children will deliberately release the balloon, even though in doing so, the balloon will be lost. However, the child then has the joy (as with a pet bird released from its cage) of seeing the balloon fly away and thereby gain its freedom.